Investigation

Chapter 8 Investigation

"Strength, agility, and physique have all increased, but unfortunately, it will take much longer to train now."

Looking at his own attributes, Adir sighed.

He picked up his sword once more and practiced the Knight's Breathing Technique on the spot.

After completing a full cycle of the Knight's Breathing Technique, Adir was covered in sweat, but his eyes were bright as he panted and sensed the data in his mind.

"Continue practicing 323 times to increase strength by 0.1, agility by 0.2, constitution by 0.1..." A mechanical voice sounded in my mind.

Adir shook his head, somewhat helplessly: "It only takes three times as long, which is still acceptable. However, the further along you go, the more time you need, and the fewer attributes you can gain."

He lowered his head and thought for a moment. After this period of intense training, he realized that his limit for practicing the breathing technique each day was only about fifteen times.

This is the ideal maximum number. If any problems arise, such as physical injury or incorrect movement, this number will need to be reduced accordingly. However, with the chip in place and the gradual improvement over time, such accidents rarely occur.

However, even under ideal conditions, it would take more than 20 days of training to complete more than 300 repetitions. If any unexpected events occur along the way, it would not be surprising if it took a month or two to complete.

This amount of time wouldn't normally be considered long, but now it feels rather rushed.

"What a pity." Adir sighed inwardly, thinking of the news he had recently heard.

It seems that the situation at the front is becoming increasingly tense, and recently, the surrounding area has become more and more chaotic. During this time, Adir has heard news of the massacre of several villages. It seems that bandit groups from other places have come from afar, taking advantage of the fact that the nobles in this area are unable to spare any resources to plunder. This has made everyone in the area feel insecure, and even the nobles do not feel safe.

This is not surprising. This world is not a safe and harmonious place to begin with. Wild animals and bandits are everywhere in the wild. Without a certain amount of force, it is impossible to maintain local security.

In this situation, as a kind of maintainer of order in this area, Count Polia naturally had to take action to maintain the stability and order of the surrounding area.

Adir's knight apprentices were all exceptionally strong, and during this period they were all dispatched to lead teams on various missions.

In just a few days, the few remaining apprentices all left, and now, including Adir, only two or three apprentices remain.

The reason Adir is still able to stay here is probably because he was seriously injured on the battlefield, so he has taken extra time to recover.

With that thought in mind, Adir put down his longsword and put on another weapon he used for training his swordsmanship.

The current situation is too tense. In addition to the Knight's Breathing Technique, we cannot give up swordsmanship and other methods that can quickly increase our combat power in order to cope with the upcoming battle.

··········

Just over ten days later, as Adir had predicted, it seemed that Count Poria felt his injuries had almost healed, and ordered him to be sent out as well.

In a vast, deserted forest, Adir rode a black horse, followed by several attendants also on horseback.

"Is this the area?" Arriving at a certain location, Adir dismounted, his sharp eyes quickly scanning the surroundings as he asked his attendants behind him.

"Yes, sir."

Upon seeing Adir dismount, several of his attendants also dismounted, one of whom, with a weathered face, responded.

"According to the information we gathered earlier, there were indeed rumors of mountain bears roaming around this area in the past, and they even attacked several villages in the vicinity recently, killing several people."

Upon arriving at this place, the atmosphere seemed somewhat gloomy and oppressive. Several attendants appeared somewhat subdued, and one of them silently revealed the information about the place.

When the man spoke of the mountain bear, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes, as if he was extremely afraid of this creature.

Adir didn't take this to heart.

Mountain bears are terrifying creatures in this world.

In this wild world filled with all sorts of dangerous beasts, there are also some particularly formidable and dangerous creatures.

This mountain bear is one such example, a true overlord of the mountains. Legend has it that it can single-handedly slaughter a small army, its power being truly terrifying.

Rumors have it that the area where Adir is currently located has been sighted by mountain bears, which is why Adir was specially dispatched to investigate.

Of course, this is only one of the tasks on the surface.

Some time ago, as the battle on the front lines became increasingly intense, large groups of bandits flocked to this area, plundering and causing havoc in the territories of various nobles.

Hunters had previously spotted a large number of bandits passing through this area, seemingly hiding nearby and preparing to do something.

Adir's mission, in addition to searching for the mountain bear that was in the open, also required him to find the trail of the bandit gang.

It's fair to say that neither of these tasks is easy, and danger could arise at any moment if one were to actually undertake them.

Leaving aside the unknown number of bandit groups, those who dare to openly rob nobles are true outlaws, and when they gather together, their strength is often considerable.

Mountain bears are not to be trifled with either. This level of life is beyond the capabilities of ordinary people; unless an army is deployed to surround and kill them, or top-tier knight-level experts are called in, it's virtually impossible to defeat them.

Fortunately, Adir's mission was merely reconnaissance; he wasn't actually tasked with dealing with these characters.

The group took a few steps forward, and Adir quickly scanned his surroundings, observing the scene around him.

On the surface, his observations appeared casual, but in reality, with the presence of the chip, a simple glance was enough to obtain excellent results through data analysis and comparison, far more effective than other people's reconnaissance methods.

"Different odor residues were detected. Data analysis showed a similarity of 74% with the mountain bear."

Suddenly, the voice of the chip machinery rang in my mind.

Adir looked ahead, where a large tree lay askew, its canopy drooping towards the earth.

This tree looks huge, over ten meters tall, requiring two people to encircle it. However, the trunk broke off in the middle, causing the upper part of the trunk to lean towards the ground.

At about four meters above the ground, a huge dent appears on the tree trunk, deeply recessed, and its shape resembles the claw of some kind of wild animal.

"These are traces of a mountain bear's past activity." Looking at the fallen tree, a middle-aged man behind Adir turned pale.

Adir's expression was also not good at this moment. He carefully looked at the marks on the big tree and analyzed the strength of the mountain bear in his mind.

The ability to almost snap a tree over ten meters tall in half with a single palm strike suggests that such power, if applied to a person, would likely turn them into a bloody pulp, shattering them completely and leaving only a mangled mess.

Even Adir, if hit head-on by this mountain bear, would probably be severely injured and would have no chance of fighting back.

"Ding! Analysis complete. Target's strength attribute is 5.7 or higher..." The chip's voice sounded in his mind at the same time.

With a strength of at least 5.7, this is an absolutely terrifying number. An ordinary person, unless they are a knight or a very strong knight apprentice, would probably die from just a glancing blow.

Adir's face turned ashen. This power was beyond his ability to handle; even for a knight, it was probably not something everyone could cope with.

He raised his head and looked around intently. The chip in his mind scanned his surroundings through his eyes, constantly collecting information to detect any lurking dangers.

The chips inside the body continuously feed the analyzed data back to the brain.

He looked ahead and saw a green protrusion about four or five meters away, well concealed in the surrounding scenery, but easily discovered through comparative analysis of the chip.

Adir did not move forward, but simply raised his arm slightly, and quietly aimed a crossbow at the front.

"To calculate wind friction, please correct your movement: shift your arm three centimeters to the right."

As Adir moved, the chip in his mind rapidly calculated various data that could affect accuracy, and then fed back the corrected movements.

This is also why Adir carries a crossbow. He is a knight apprentice who has been trained for many years and has excellent physical stability. In addition, the chip can analyze data and calculate resistance, so there is no need to worry about aiming.

With a soft click, the crossbow string vibrated slightly, and an arrow shot out swiftly, hitting a target seven or eight meters away.

The attendant beside him quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly went forward to check, while also retrieving the arrows and the prey.

It was a small, emerald-green snake, about a meter long, but very thin. Its entire body, including its eyes, was emerald green, making it difficult to spot in the mountains and forests.

It looked like a venomous snake, but at this moment its entire head was pierced by an arrow and it could no longer move.

"This is a green-eyed snake. It has a very strong venom. Even a lion would die within an hour if it were bitten."

Behind Adir, a hunter who had followed to act as a guide identified the species of the snake and looked at Adir with some fear as he explained.

Adir nodded, pulled out his arrow, and then grabbed the snake's body.

As if electrocuted, the previously motionless snake suddenly moved, its mouth opened, and it bit down hard on Adir.

The attendant standing nearby was shocked and tried to step forward to stop him.

An arrow stained with green snake blood pierced down suddenly, and the terrifying force instantly severed the snake's entire head, which fell to the ground.

Adir's expression remained unchanged as he calmly dug open the snake's body and found a green solid inside.

(End of this chapter)